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Join Melissa as she interviews Valerie Hillings, the Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art. Valerie shares her journey from studying art history at Duke University to leading the museum. They delve into the upcoming Art in Bloom exhibit, the integration of outdoor and indoor art spaces, and the unique cultural experiences offered by the museum. Valerie also discusses how the museum adapts to different seasons, collaborates with other institutions, and engages with the community. Discover what it takes to bring art to life and the future exhibitions you can't miss.
00:00 Introduction and Personal Background
00:21 Museum Dynamics and Building Names
00:49 Podcast Setup and Introduction
01:32 Introducing the North Carolina Museum of Art
02:41 Art in Bloom Exhibition
04:18 Valerie's Journey to Museum Directorship
11:04 Museum Operations and Community Engagement
13:30 Unique Aspects of the North Carolina Museum of Art
17:00 The Importance of Planning Your Museum Visit
17:40 The Perks of Local Museums
18:24 Introducing Art in Bloom
19:12 Challenges and Logistics of Art in Bloom
21:37 Themes and Inspirations for Art in Bloom
23:12 Collaborations and Special Events
29:33 Upcoming Exhibits and Events
32:14 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Creators and Guests
What is What’s Up, Wake?
What’s Up, Wake covers the people, places, restaurants, and events of Wake County, North Carolina. Through conversations with local personalities from business owners to town staff and influencers to volunteers, we’ll take a closer look at what makes Wake County an outstanding place to live. Presented by Cherokee Media Group, the publishers of local lifestyle magazines Cary Magazine, Wake Living, and Main & Broad, What’s Up, Wake covers news and happenings in Raleigh, Cary, Morrisville, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, and Wake Forest.
. Today I'm joined by the director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, a place that's much more than a museum.
[00:01:34] Melissa: It's a cultural gathering space where art, nature, and community come together. From its world class galleries in the west and east buildings to the sprawling and and gem goodnight. Museum Park Outdoors. The North Carolina Museum of Art invites people to experience art in ways that feel both inspiring and captivating.
One of its most popular traditions returns March 18th. Art and Bloom is an annual exhibition that pairs iconic works from the permanent collection with stunning floral interpretations.
It's a celebration of creativity, collaboration, and the way art can be reimagined. Art and Bloom invites us to see fa familiar works through fresh eyes and fresh flowers.
I'm here today with Director of the North Carolina Museum of Art, Valerie Hilling. To talk about her road to museum life, behind the scenes glimpses of running a museum and what it takes to bring exhibits like art and bloom to life. Welcome Valerie.
[00:02:36] Valerie Hillings: Thank you, Melissa. Good to be here.
[00:02:37] Melissa: I'm, I'm, I've told you before, I'm such a, a big fan of the North Carolina Museum of Art, and it's really exciting for me to have you here today.
And I wore my florals for this occasion.
[00:02:48] Valerie Hillings: Excellent. You're you're perfectly in ready for, you're ready. A month ahead of time for Right. I
[00:02:52] Melissa: know. Yes, yes. Well, art and Bloom is truly, I, I don't just say this, it is one of my favorite events every year. So we are definitely gonna get into art and bloom and just a little bit, but let's get to know you.
How did you come to be a director of an art museum?
[00:03:09] Valerie Hillings: Well, it, it famously started being an undergraduate at Duke University here in the triangle and not getting into a class on legal reading and writing and deciding to take intro to art history.
[00:03:21] Melissa: Oh,
[00:03:22] Valerie Hillings: really? Um, I had taken art history in high school. I was very fortunate and very unusual at the time to have that.
Mm-hmm. But it seemed like a natural idea and it just so happened the professor who was just young and energetic. Got me even more excited. But growing up in DC I'd gone to museums. So I started really thinking about art seriously as an academic pursuit. But then by the time I reached my senior year, um, I was thinking about it as a career.
And part of that, um, was actually because we had such a small museum, then I was going to the North Carolina Museum of Arts. Mm. So it was part of that inspiration of. How art could intersect with a museum. And then I went to graduate school in art history in New York and found my way here back here, I guess I should say, about 18 years later.
[00:04:08] Melissa: So you've been the, the director of the Museum of Art for about seven years. Is that right?
[00:04:13] Valerie Hillings: That's right.
[00:04:14] Melissa: And before. Before then you worked at places like Guggenheim, which everybody, that's a familiar museum name.
[00:04:22] Valerie Hillings: Yes.
[00:04:23] Melissa: But it's also a place that's in a huge city, New York City and all over the world, they have locations all over the world, right?
[00:04:30] Valerie Hillings: Yes.
[00:04:31] Melissa: Um, so how do you understand as a director the difference? What is needed in a place like Guggenheim versus a place like the North Carolina Museum of Art?
[00:04:43] Valerie Hillings: Well, I was thinking, when I was working in New York, I was always on these global projects, so I wasn't always sitting inside a community and thinking about what was local.
And in fact, in New York almost all the museums are really thinking about their tourists, their foreign tourists, their national tourists. And so your. You're not really contemplating a long range view. I about nine years or a little less than that into my time at the Guggenheim. I was asked to help establish a museum in the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi that is due to open this year.
And what happened unexpectedly is I got to know a local community because we were having to spend time learning about what was Emirati art, what was the community for museums? And that really taught me how to think locally, which then I guess when I was interviewing for this job that resonated with the with the committee here because I, I, I strongly believe in the uniqueness of a local art scene, being part of an art museum's, DNA.
[00:05:47] Melissa: So do, do each art museum. Do they really have their own vibes, I guess, for lack of better word?
[00:05:55] Valerie Hillings: I think that's right. You know, in the early histories of museums going, going back in time, so many of them went from being either a royal collection and becoming a museum or a private collection. Um, many in the United States, of course, were private citizen efforts, including here, where a, a group in the 1920s started, formed an art society and started pushing forward.
But there was, in those early years, there was a set of artists that meant you were an important museum and if you were looking at all of history, that might include people like Michelangelo or Rembrandt. And so there was kind of a. A set model that everybody started with and then built out from there.
Um, and sometimes they were always pursuing the same artists, but at a certain point, every museum has a certain amount of geography. They cover a certain amount of time they cover. And then more recently, I'd say in the last, well, I'd say 10 to 15 years, museums have really come to realize that. You don't have to have one singular list worldwide.
You really need to think about the list that speaks to what you have and speaks to what you want to do.
[00:07:02] Melissa: And the North Carolina Museum of Art is unique in that it integrates outdoor spaces. With the, the outdoor park. The outdoor movie theater, is that what it's called? Movie theater. Mm-hmm. Outdoors. Um, how does nature influence your decisions for what comes to our museum?
[00:07:20] Valerie Hillings: It's such a unique proposition here, and I'm so grateful to those that had the vision to take us from downtown to, to the campus on Blue Ridge. The, it's not a typical sculpture park, you know, so many museums, they just put objects outside this park. Embraces and celebrates nature from a stream that we're restoring now to suddenly discovering what looks like a little, um, magical house in the woods, which is of course, um, our cloud chamber or sculpture.
So it's not just a work in the middle of nowhere. It's, it's a, a work with kind of discovery involved. And, um, I, it does inform our program to a degree we've been trying in the last few years when we do a major show inside to have a work outside by the same artist. And in fact, this fall we're going to be doing that again.
So that, and, and often the content of that artist either can interact with or speaks to nature because it really, nature stands at the core of, of our operation much more than other museums that I've worked for.
[00:08:20] Melissa: Well, and I can imagine, especially during certain times of the year, spring and fall in particular, you might have some people that are just visiting the outdoor areas and not necessarily coming inside.
And then in times, right now, when we're freezing, you have people that are not outside at all, and they're only in. Side. Right. So do different times of the year really reflect what you guys have going on at the museum?
[00:08:46] Valerie Hillings: Well, of course we're in a very atypical winter. Melissa, yes. As we've been discussing, so actually very often in January, February, people would really be still actively outside and they are of course.
But no, we, we really, we have our strongest and most consistent attendance outside in the park. And we are working all the time to encourage more inside visitation. And so that's part of what we're developing now are, are points of entry between the two so that we encourage a dual experience. Mm-hmm. Um, sometimes it's weather dependent, sometimes it's driven by programming, but we were really delighted during the pandemic that we were able to stay open as a park.
Not all parks could do that. That was the moment where we saw a great increase in our foot traffic. And also when we reopened that there was this recognition that, oh, I might be able to go inside and if only to check out the store or, or you know, put my, put something in a locker and then, oh wow, look at that artwork.
So we, we are really encouraging of individual experience, one or the other, and also trying to get people to see what it looks like when they come together.
[00:09:50] Melissa: Let's talk about your day to day. What does a typical day look like for a museum director?
[00:09:57] Valerie Hillings: Well, I try to structure my days with some kind of continuity.
There's a lot of, there's a lot of internal meetings and a lot of external meetings, and so, you know, a lot of times in a job, more of your time is truly spent inside. Um, I certainly am overseeing the program and the. Making sure the operations are moving ahead. But at the same time, I'm really thinking about community.
So I'm for instance, going out and doing a lecture or engaging in a talk such as ours. Now I'm meeting with people in different parts of the community, whether it's business or government, um, or supporters, and just trying to make sure that we're really meeting the needs of our community rather than just guessing at that.
So I have that opportunity to be the external facing. Person who's listening a lot and also then going out and sharing what we're doing to, I get excited when I go give a talk and someone says, I had no idea. I, I want you to have an idea. Mm-hmm. But I'm very happy that, that's part of my role, is making sure I share what the museum can, can offer to everybody.
[00:10:57] Melissa: And I'm sure you have an amazing staff too, to be able to pull off such, such a, a wide variety of, of different things that you guys have going on, not just the day to day in the museum, but the, the exhibits like we're gonna be talking about and everything outdoors from the plants and trees. True. I mean, it, it is just.
So many different facets that it sounds like you must have a really great team.
[00:11:20] Valerie Hillings: We have an amazing staff. They are experts in very narrow areas. Mm-hmm. And then in broad areas. And we really try to come together. Um, we've just passed a new strategic plan and that was done by the staff. The staff knows, um, what we're capable of.
The staff brings passion to their jobs every day and excellence, and I love watching them forge a path that, that we can, um, that we can all get behind. And, and similarly, we have a lot of great. External colleagues and partners, whether it's, um, we're part of the Department of Natural and Cultural resources of the state and are excited to be part of that and to partner with our colleagues.
Um, an example is with our friends, the History Museum closed, we're going to be sponsoring another one of their festivals upcoming, the African American Heritage. Oh, great. And celebration. We did their Native American one in the fall. So th those are some of the other ways that we, we actually expand our capabilities mm-hmm.
And get to celebrate more talent here in the state.
[00:12:16] Melissa: Okay, so one of my very favorite movies is Night at the Museum. I'm sure you have to have seen it.
[00:12:23] Valerie Hillings: Yes.
[00:12:24] Melissa: It's where artifacts within the museum come to life at night. If you could have one piece of artwork come to life.
[00:12:32] Valerie Hillings: Wow.
[00:12:32] Melissa: And your museum.
[00:12:34] Valerie Hillings: Yes.
[00:12:34] Melissa: Which one would you want to meet?
[00:12:36] Valerie Hillings: Oh, wow. Gosh. There's a lot of good choices. Yeah. Um, well, I think one of my favorites from the time I was interviewing is this, um, the, this portrait of the Three Muses by Michellin Thomas. It's a, it's a large scale artwork of. Three African American women, there's lots of, um, beads and it's, I would say it's bedazzled, but they're standing in the middle and they of this like indeterminate space and lots of color and I feel like they would come out and they would have a dance party.
Pretty sure about that. Mm-hmm. Um, but also they are pointing us in the direction of, um, Greek mythology with the muses, the muses that inspire creativity. They, they physically look like they're situated in the seventies, which wouldn't be f would be pretty fun to go back to. And at the same time, they're totally current.
Um, and I think would, would talk about friendship and, and what we can all do together.
[00:13:26] Melissa: Yeah, they would have a lot to say. I don't, I don't recognize that one. I'm gonna have to come and see that one now that you're mentioning it.
[00:13:32] Valerie Hillings: Please do.
[00:13:33] Melissa: What excites you the most about being the director of the museum?
[00:13:39] Valerie Hillings: I get excited when I see the, the, the very important visions of my team coming to life and seeing the public enjoying them. We are here to. Create an well. You know, I think create an escape is an okay phrase. In the old days, it was to educate, which we still do, but it is to inspire and to welcome people, to have a moment of, of respite from the crazy day.
They might have to. Imagine a world that might be a little bit different, whether it's going back in the virtual time machine to go back to 17th century Netherlands, as we do in the Book of Esther, um, exhibition. Um, that makes me the happiest and it's hard for me now to quietly observe. I used to do that in my early career where I would just secretly walk among the public.
Mm-hmm. And because I'm in a lot of pictures, sometimes people recognize me, but I still do that. And I also. Love just being present. The energy of what happens in a museum is about it happening in real time. It's not, um, you know, I could have chosen to do many things, but being a, in a living setting with people, engaging with the objects is what I love most.
If someone hasn't visited the Museum of Art before, what would you want them to know before they walk in?
[00:15:45] Valerie Hillings: Oh wow. That's a good question. I would actually encourage them to think ahead of time of what.
Just in a general sense, what interests them the most? So when somebody comes in for a tour with me, I'll say, Melissa, what, what period of time are you most excited about? What you know is, do you like paintings? Do you like sculptures? For them to get them, get, get an idea of what they like, and then to use our tools, whether it's our website or the, the materials when you arrive.
To be able to get yourself to the thing that you would be most excited with first. Um, and then it feels familiar. And of course an easy way to do that is to, um, just pick an artist's name, pick a period. But I, I think that's one way of just kind of getting a sense of what's there. Choosing choosing a bite size.
'cause it is very big and overwhelming.
[00:16:31] Melissa: It is. Yeah.
[00:16:32] Valerie Hillings: I, it's not having
[00:16:32] Melissa: a plan. Think one day, I mean, to really enjoy it. You can go one day and just kind of breeze through everything, but if you really want to, to take it all in, you've gotta, you've gotta take a couple of days there.
[00:16:44] Valerie Hillings: And the great thing is you can, if you're, you know, when you're local it is.
Yeah. I remember. You know, 'cause often if you travel very far to go to a museum. You feel very compelled. I've gotta get through the whole thing and, and someone had told me, um, oh, well, I always tell our local audience that you could just come in for 20 minutes, you could come in for an hour next time.
Mm-hmm. And that really resonated with me because that, you know, you don't have to overwhelm yourself and you can keep coming back.
[00:17:11] Melissa: And, um, with my interview that I had with Jessica Holt from Visit Raleigh, she brought up the good point that our museums in Raleigh are free. Yes. With the, with the exception of some of the exhibits that you have.
That's
[00:17:23] Valerie Hillings: right.
[00:17:23] Melissa: How blessed are we that we have these, these free places to go? An experience for the day.
[00:17:30] Valerie Hillings: It's, it's very rare actually,
[00:17:31] Melissa: because like places like New York or DC like you're from,
[00:17:34] Valerie Hillings: yes.
[00:17:35] Melissa: You gotta pay.
[00:17:36] Valerie Hillings: You do. You do. And, and the entire collection, our collection, we, we changed its sort of moniker a couple years ago to the People's collection because it.
Belongs to the people of North Carolina. Mm-hmm. And that is the state has made that commitment to having an opportunity for anyone to visit for free and see their collection.
[00:17:55] Melissa: Let's get to my favorite part of the museum, which is Art and Bloom.
[00:17:59] Valerie Hillings: Very good.
[00:18:00] Melissa: Tell us about the beginning of Art and Bloom and how the idea came up and how did you, how did you even formulate the idea and how to implement it?
Because it seems like it would be something that's, um. Not very easy to just pull together. Maybe at this point
[00:18:18] Valerie Hillings: it's a big operation. Yeah.
[00:18:19] Melissa: Maybe at this point it's gotten easier through the years. It has,
[00:18:22] Valerie Hillings: but, um, you know, it started, um, I, I believe it was either Boston or Philadelphia. That was the first museum to come up with doing the concept.
Okay. And, um, and I guess about, I have to do the math on this one. Maybe about six or seven years before I came, we, um, we began doing it here and it was, um, began. I think with a lot of ambition, a lot of unknown, one of the biggest challenges, so for the audience, and I think, you know, many know this, but it, you know, florals are made to respond to artworks or to an idea.
So we have these larger things that are an idea. And, um, plants in a museum are, are a challenge because, you know, we have to. Have our, our art conservators need to advise us so that we make sure that no bugs or pests are coming into the museum. So there's a lot of, of considerations about that.
[00:19:12] Melissa: Oh yeah.
That didn't even cross my mind. Right? Yeah. Yes. I mean, I think about the water and how water can, you know, of course ruin artwork.
[00:19:19] Valerie Hillings: That's right.
[00:19:19] Melissa: But I didn't think about things, things
[00:19:20] Valerie Hillings: getting started
[00:19:21] Melissa: that could be on the flowers themselves.
[00:19:23] Valerie Hillings: Exactly. So getting started, we had to think about all those things.
Okay. Is the point of that. Yeah. And, um, over, over the last years. We, we even, we were trying, we were literally about to open the one in 2020 when we were locked down for the pandemic. So we ended up kind of moving it a little bit later and then coming back online to, to this timeframe of March, um, a couple years after that.
But, but basically what I find so inspiring. Is the process. You're asking how complicated it is. Mm-hmm. So my, um, I have a staff lead, Laura Finon, who I wanna shout out to. Mm-hmm. Because she's been doing this since the very beginning and she works with our conservation staff and looks at her list as to which artworks have been used in years prior.
And there we don't wanna repeat except we do sometimes. And we also want to think about artworks that people may not. Pay attention to.
[00:20:10] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:20:11] Valerie Hillings: On a normal day you might walk right past it. And, um, I remember
[00:20:14] Melissa: that's one of my favorite things about it actually, because when I go each year, I think to myself, wow, I've never even noticed this piece of art here.
And, you know, now it, it, it helps draw attention to it, but also yes. Make you look at it in a totally new way if you have seen it before
[00:20:29] Valerie Hillings: and, you know, we see a range. There are, there are those that just interpret it from the point of view of color. Mm-hmm. Others Absolutely try to echo the composition.
[00:20:37] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:20:38] Valerie Hillings: And, um, they, they, they're actually another like very functional note is the time of year decides which kind of flowers are available. So even though we are in a world where almost anything can be available, there are times of year where things are more available. So that's always interesting. And they do the, they put the arrangements together and they do refresh them every day.
So before, before the public comes back in, we have the race to mm-hmm. You know, make sure that everything is looking its best.
[00:21:03] Melissa: Nothing's drooping.
[00:21:05] Valerie Hillings: Yes.
[00:21:05] Melissa: Where it shouldn't be drooping.
[00:21:06] Valerie Hillings: That's right. That's right.
[00:21:08] Melissa: So what is the theme this year? Because each year you guys have a different theme. We do. So tell us about the theme this year.
[00:21:14] Valerie Hillings: Well, um, a funny anecdote is I loved, you know, standing in the building when all through the art and bloom because you're seeing everybody's reactions. You see the joy. It's such a joyful occasion for all kinds of people. We have, um, one of our florists who's very often, um, participating, kind of snuck up beside me last year, and she said, I think you should do the zodiac.
Oh. And my mind started racing because we, we often take a theme, whether it's a decade or the Zodiac. Mm-hmm. That has more of a mainstream appeal. It doesn't have to respond to the artwork in the gallery.
[00:21:47] Melissa: Yeah.
[00:21:48] Valerie Hillings: Um, and so we decided to go for it. And it was funny because we have usually have a certain set number of these large platforms, and the Zodiac has a larger number than our usual.
And I said,
[00:21:59] Melissa: oh, okay.
[00:22:00] Valerie Hillings: We're gonna have to do all of them. 'cause at first it was you do some, some and No you can't. No, you can, you can't.
[00:22:04] Melissa: Like I'd be upset if Pisces was left out or,
[00:22:07] Valerie Hillings: I agree. I agree. So I'm excited about it because what is also exciting is it ties to a notion of astrology. And since we have the park we will have opportunities for some stargazing.
And we're also partnering, for instance, with Morehead Planetarium on some programming, also our colleagues at Natural Science and the Zoo. So we have some popup activity too that is going to. Interpret this. And also we have found artworks in the collection that tie to each of the signs. So it really became an incredibly creative framework and I think everybody will really enjoy trying to get their picture with their sign.
[00:22:43] Melissa: Well, I love hearing that you guys. Really collaborate with other museums. I, that didn't cross my mind before this conversation. So you really do work with other museums and other directors to try to you know, pull together something truly special?
[00:22:59] Valerie Hillings: Well, this is the first time we've actually, um, not in general but for Art and Bloom that we've, we've done that and I'm really so excited to call, you know, have these colleagues both here and, and in within our department of Natural and Cultural resources because.
Actually, one of the things I learned is, which you, which probably many of your listeners know, is that the zoo, of course, has a lot of artwork. So, um, we'll be excited to kind of lean into that, that commonality. Um, I believe it's national polar bear day that we're gonna be celebrating. So, um,
[00:23:28] Melissa: cool.
[00:23:29] Valerie Hillings: And, um, it's just very, it's very rewarding this because of the nature of the art and film being about.
Celebrating, um, fun and actually learning things that you wouldn't think you could learn in an easy way. I'm excited that we can take these different, um, locations and bring them into our into our framework.
[00:23:47] Melissa: Well, and Art in Bloom is kind of, for me, a. A key date that I look forward to also because it, it signifies the beginning of spring, all the flowers and all the pretty colors and the weather is normally, you know, hopefully getting warmer by then.
Yes,
[00:24:04] Valerie Hillings: we, we've had some rainy days.
[00:24:05] Melissa: Yes, yes. But hopefully it'll be nice weather, but it really is kind of a signal to me like, ugh, spring is finally here. It's art and bloom time. Are there any works of art during art and bloom mm-hmm. That you would say are off limits for any reason? Mm-hmm.
[00:24:22] Valerie Hillings: Usually that occurs when, um, the gallery that the artwork is in is particularly small, and if you put a floral pedestal in there.
It's just gonna get really tight with a lot of people. It's, it's literally can be that functional. Um, I think I will give you one example that's not that though. Last year we were looking at the ancient Egyptian collection and there was, you, you may know a lot of the objects are quite small in scale.
[00:24:46] Melissa: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:46] Valerie Hillings: And there was one that was small. Beige and I felt that was not fair. To the florist. Yes. To have to interpret it.
[00:24:55] Melissa: Yes. Because the florist don't get to choose the works of art that they're assigned to. Is that correct?
[00:25:01] Valerie Hillings: Yes. They draw a work and then they can, there's a brief period where they could exchange, but I think in, in practice, probably fairly few of them do that.
Um, yeah. Not, not impossible, but you know, because
[00:25:10] Melissa: nobody's gonna exchange for the small beige.
[00:25:13] Valerie Hillings: Oh no. And we found this is, um, about two years ago, there was a very small blue. I think it was for eyeliner. Um, but it was this beautiful little kind of amphora type and it had a little bit of a pattern in it, and we chose that one.
And in fact, the, um, young florist that drew it, won my prize because it was so unique and so perfectly done. So I, I would say that generally I, my. My intervention, I get to see the final possible list. And that's the, the lens I bring can, can we make sure that everybody's gonna, gonna come with their best, um, effort for everything.
So, so, so, no small beige object.
[00:25:50] Melissa: Okay. Well, how much creative freedom do the floral designers get? And I also wanna point out that I, I find fascinating that this is not just. Florist with big big businesses. Mm-hmm. These are just regular people that are, are, are, are interested in doing this too.
Right?
[00:26:12] Valerie Hillings: That's right. There's a, there's a range of, mm-hmm. Um, as you were saying, even being in a very big floral business mm-hmm. To a small floral business, we, what's one of the most wonderful outcomes is very often we find that some of the smaller businesses end up getting wedding contracts and other business out of, out of the, out of the experience, but no, they really get to invent and do they have free creativity and as
[00:26:35] Melissa: long as it fits on the Yes. The space that they're given
[00:26:38] Valerie Hillings: and yes. And follows the requirements around, as we were saying, water and mm-hmm. Pests and this kind of thing. There's some, you know, some functional checklists that we're keeping just because it's an art museum.
[00:26:49] Melissa: I will say one of my very favorites to date was from the team at Trader Joe's.
[00:26:55] Valerie Hillings: Oh yes.
[00:26:56] Melissa: They go all out.
[00:26:58] Valerie Hillings: They sure do.
[00:26:58] Melissa: And when I, I know when I shop for flowers myself, I go to Trader Joe's because they have the widest selection and you can kind of build your own bouquet. So. I get why they would, they would, um, be good at it.
But they as a team are so creative. Yes. And a couple years ago, I wanna say two years ago, they had, um, I want to say it was a music theme maybe.
[00:27:21] Valerie Hillings: Yes, they did.
[00:27:22] Melissa: And they had one of the big platforms yes. The Trader Joe's team. And I'm, I'm still blown away by what they put together,
[00:27:30] Valerie Hillings: so I, I remember that one very much so.
Yes. Yeah. They have such a great. Well, incredible artistry and creativity and such a command of color.
[00:27:38] Melissa: Yes.
[00:27:38] Valerie Hillings: You know, I think color really I is what can draw you in initially and then, then you had these, you know, all these questions like, well, what are they trying to do there? But yeah. Yeah. I'm, I'm, they are among the, the teams that keep coming back and I, I always enjoy to see what they come up with.
[00:27:53] Melissa: And I am spoiled because I get to come on the media day when Yes. When the artists are just feverishly working to put together the final, the final little details of each piece. So I get to see kind of the behind the scenes of Yes. Of how it's all coming together and it's just, I love it. I absolutely love it.
Is there a theme that has been your very favorite so far since you've been with the museum?
[00:28:18] Valerie Hillings: Having not seen the one now.
[00:28:20] Melissa: Yeah. I think this one's gonna be a very good
[00:28:22] Valerie Hillings: one. I liked the decades too. I was a fan of the decades. Yeah. Because it was a similar to the sign, I hope.
[00:28:28] Melissa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:28:29] Valerie Hillings: Everybody found themselves looking for the decade they were born in or, um, yeah.
Or that they knew the best. We had one of our, um, one of our docents, her family had honored her with a platform that turned out it was from the forties, which was such an important decade for her, and it was just really. Moving to see how people in could, um, project their own narrative onto, or their own experience onto what they were seeing.
And then also just have a lot of fun with it. The, the, the designers themselves really went all out with things that surprised us, I think.
[00:29:01] Melissa: Tell us, other than Art and Bloom. About other exhibits or special events that are coming up this year that you're looking forward to?
[00:29:09] Valerie Hillings: Well, we're currently in the last month of the book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt, which has been a fantastic show, um, because it really takes you on a journey through different layers of history and art history.
It takes you back to the Netherlands in the 17th century. It talks about a. Biblical heroine that really belongs to, um, the Jewish people, but was adopted by the Dutch as an emblem of their nation state of determin self-determination, community determination. Um, and there's got a range of objects from a, an amazing tapestry from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum that never traveled, has never traveled till now.
[00:29:46] Melissa: Wow.
[00:29:46] Valerie Hillings: Um, to metalwork to a a, a real Rembrandt portrait of Esther. So I'm, I really continue to be. Excited about that last push, but the, the next show behind that opens on May 2nd, and it's called Knowing the West. Knowing the West was originated by the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in, in Bentonville, Arkansas.
And it's a really exciting exhibition that looks at d the different stories of the west, um, different types of artists, different um, materials of art, um, largely sort of late 19th century into the, into the 20th century, but ranging a lot of women artists, a lot of American Indian artists. It's, it's, if you.
I think of it as the prequel to the contemporary American art show we did a few years ago, but it's also beautiful landscapes that we associate with the west. It's, um, a Japanese artist from California interpreting the landscape through the lens of, of ink paintings. So there's absolutely. Something for everybody.
Mm-hmm. And it really asks you, the question is how do, what do you think of when you think of the West? Um, getting, we're we're actually engaged in interviewing visitors to, to find out ahead of time. Um, and I think that everybody will probably find what they think they know and find things that they don't yet know
[00:31:02] Melissa: well.
And the West is a really big pop cultural phenomenon right now with all the, these Taylor Sheridan shows. I know my husband is really deep and my, my mom even, um, 1823 and all these shows from, from him. So I think that's gonna be a popular exhibit.
[00:31:18] Valerie Hillings: Totally. And, and you know, we're being a little bit creative and expanding the notion of West and so we, we have been over the last couple of years, no surprise, really trying to embrace Western North Carolina artists, um, who had so many challenges with Helene.
Yeah. And so our two, um. Commissioned walls in West Fielding are by artists from, from Western North Carolina, and we will do a, a, a series of programs during the run of knowing the West that will also, um, highlight those artists.
[00:31:45] Melissa: Well, thank you so much for being here. I know you're, I I was gonna say, I know you're very busy right now, but you're, it sounds like you're always busy.
[00:31:51] Valerie Hillings: Well, I'm just excited to share, and thank you for letting me do so there's so much going on at the museum. Please check our website. We have a lot of pop-up music and dance programs now responding to the collection. That are just a great way to spend your weekend and, and actually also related a short form tour called, um, art on the dot.
If you're, if you wanna in 30 minutes, you want a little lunch a weekend lunch, bright. Mm-hmm. Come on and take a tour with us.
[00:32:17] Melissa: Okay, great. Thank you so much for being here today.
[00:32:19] Valerie Hillings: Thank you, Melissa.